New Zealand Army General. He rose in rank to become the Commander of New Zealand Military Forces from 1914 until 1919. The son of a baker, his family moved to New Zealand the year following his birth and his father engaged in building coaches. Upon finishing high school in 1873, he began working for his father and became a partner in the business. In 1878 he joined the New Zealand Regiment of the Volunteer Artillery, later serving with the Southland Hussars and the Dunedin Cavalry Volunteers, where he rose to the rank of sergeant major. In 1889 he was commissioned a lieutenant and promoted to the rank of captain three years later. In 1897 he led the New Zealand contingent to English Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. In 1899 he joined the New Zealand Permanent Forces and became a rifle instructor. When the 2nd Boer War broke out in October 1899, he took the first group of New Zealand volunteers to South Africa and became commander of the 1st New Zealand Regiment. Upon returning home in May 1901 he was promoted to the rank of colonel and became commander of the Otago Military District and five years later he became Chief of the General Staff of the Permanent Forces and member of the newly formed Council of Defence. In 1910 he became Adjutant and Quartermaster General which was interrupted two years later when he served as New Zealand's representative to the War Office in London, England for a year. In 1915 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and was promoted to the rank of major general the following year. During World War I he commanded the New Zealand Military forces at home and did not participate in combat. From 1920 until January 1921 he served as the acting administrator of Western Samoa, after which he retired from the New Zealand military with 23 years of active military service. Among his awards and decorations include the Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, the Companion of the Order of the Bath, the French Légion d'honneur, and was mentioned in dispatches (one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which is described the soldier's gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy) three times during the 2nd Boer War. After his military retirement, he served as president of First New Zealand Mounted Rifles' Association and was also involved with the South African War Veterans' Association of New Zealand. He died at the age of 74.